California State University is withholding financial aid for about 20,000 needy graduate students - money that pays their tuition - pending a decision that could permanently end the cash grants, The Chronicle has learned.

Politicians love to talk about the importance of education. In Illinois, legislators go a step further and personally award scholarships to state universities -- sometimes to friends, donors and political allies.

The roughly 9 million students who rely on subsidized federal loans will see interest rates double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on loans borrowed after July 1. It’s just the latest chapter in the nearly 50-year saga of the federal government trying to determine the appropriate rate for these loans.

The Obama administration has urged Congress to extend the 3.4 percent rate for one year, but an extension would cost an estimated $3.9 billion. Students and parents trying to plan and pay for college face confusion and uncertainty.

A new analysis of U.S. Department of Education data by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities quantifies the reliance on federal student aid by students in every state and congressional district.

Time is running out for Congress to take action to stop a scheduled interest rate increase on Stafford loans this summer. In July, interest rates are set to double for almost 8 million students. The average subsidized Stafford loan borrower will pay an extra $2,800 on their loans, and students borrowing the maximum $23,000 in subsidized loans starting next year would pay almost $5,000 more over a 10-year repayment period.